PW_1114

NOVEMBER 14, 2019
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 11
Slow start dooms
Fenwick girls soccer
By Mike Alongi
WAKEFIELD — The Bishop
Fenwick girls soccer team got
off to a bit of a slow start in last
week’s Division 3 North quarterfinal
game against Stoneham,
and it made all the difference.
Stoneham netted a goal midway
through the first half and locked
down on defense from there
as Fenwick fell, 2-0, at Galvin
Middle School.
“We came out very nervous
in the first half, and maybe it’s
because we weren’t put in too
many positions like this during
the season, but we got off to
a slow start,” said Fenwick
coach Steve Flaherty. “But take
nothing away from Stoneham,
that’s a great team with very
good players. They put the pressure
on us from the beginning.”
Isabella Fabbo, Alison
Mitchell, Madison Csogi, Katie
Dunn and goalkeeper Claudia
Keith played well for Fenwick
in the loss.
It wasn’t the best start for the
Crusaders in the first half, as
Stoneham jumped out early and
made aggressive pushes into the
offensive zone. Fenwick was
playing on its heels for the first 15
minutes of the game and only got
one shot on goal during that span.
Then, with just under 20
minutes to go in the first half,
Stoneham struck. The Spartans
cleared the ball out of their defensive
zone and sent it up the
field to reset. But Samantha
Caldarelli had other plans, as
she sprinted to get behind the
defense and settle the ball herself.
She broke for the net and
let loose on a shot from about
20 yards out that snuck past the
outstretched hands of Keith to
make it 1-0 Stoneham.
Despite a bit more push offensively
by Fenwick in the
later part of the first half,
Stoneham took that 1-0 lead
FILE PHOTO
Coach Steve Flaherty said keeper Claudia Keith played well
for Fenwick.
into the break.
“Look, my job was to get the
girls ready and I certainly didn’t
do a good job of that in the first
half,” said Flaherty. “But the girls
played hard and recovered well
after the goal. We were pushing
toward the end of the first half.”
Fenwick came out with some
adjustments in the second half
and started to push the pace
a bit more offensively. The
Crusaders earned a corner and
a free kick within the first 10
minutes, but both opportunities
came up empty.
“I’m kicking myself now
because I probably should
have made the adjustments a
bit earlier in the game, but we
were only down one goal and I
wanted us to play our style of
soccer,” said Flaherty. “Once
we settled down we were much
better, but when you go up
against a good team you have to
take advantage of you opportunities
and we couldn’t do that.”
Unfortunately for Fenwick,
that positive momentum didn’t
last. With just under 19 minutes
left in the game, Caldarelli came
up with another loose ball deep in
the Fenwick zone and launched
another hard shot into the back of
the net to make it 2-0 and effectively
seal the win for Stoneham.
The loss means the end of
the line for six Fenwick seniors
— Fabbo, Csogi, Katelyn
Clark, Lily Farrell, Eva Noci
and Oceane Goriou. Flaherty
will miss their contributions to
the program, but he also knows
that he has plenty of firepower
returning in 2020.
“I’m going to miss the seniors
and their leadership, their
commitment to the program
over the past few years has been
huge for us,” said Flaherty. “At
the same time, we have a lot of
younger players coming up who
have now gotten a taste of the
tournament, and that will only
benefit us going forward.”
The Crusaders close out the
season at 12-6-2.
FILE PHOTO
Jess Bacelar made the Northeastern Conference All-Star
team.
NEC field hockey
All-Stars named
The Northeastern Conference
released its field
hockey all-stars and award
winners for the 2019 season.
Emma Thibodeau and Jill
McGinnity, both of Danvers,
were named Player of the
Year and Coach of the Year,
respectively. Saugus won the
Sportsmanship Award.
Earning all-conference selections
were Swampscott’s
Natalie Dominiconi and
Isabella Modica; Saugus’
Gabby Surette; Marblehead’s
Sammi Bendicksen, Maddy
Dimare; Peabody’s Jess
Bacelar; Beverly’s Hailey
Anderson; Danvers’ Thibodeau,
Ella Brinkley,
Jan essa Marchegiani;
Gloucester’s Cate Delaney;
Mia Salah.
The all-stars are Swampscott’s
Harper Clop ton and
Olivia Passalacqua; Saugus’
Surette; Peabody’s Lily
Brombeger; Marblehead’s
Lydia Hurley, Julia Arts;
Danvers’ Ashley Curcuru,
Grace Brinkley, Ashley
Clark; Beverly’s Anne Curtin;
Gloucester’s Maddy Machado,
Ella Marshall.
Danvers finished the
season with an 11-0-1 record
against conference opponents
and won the NEC
title. Not far behind the
Falcons were Gloucester (7-
3-2), Marblehead (7-4-1) and
Swampscott (6-4-2).
Peabody football team corrals Mustangs
By Harold Rivera
PEABODY — The Peabody
football team bounced back
into the win column last Friday
night with a 34-18 non-tournament
win over Medford at
Hormel Stadium.
Peabody improved to 3-6 on
the season, while the Mustangs
remain winless at 0-9.
Cam Cuzzi and Kyle
Maglione each ran for two
touchdowns in the victory to
lead Peabody’s offense. Senior
Joe Casey rounded out the
scoring with a 2-yard touchdown
plunge in the fourth
quarter — Casey’s first career
varsity touchdown.
“It was fun to see Joe
score,” Peabody coach Mark
Bettencourt said. “When you
see a kid like Joe Casey score
a touchdown, it means a ton
to him and his family. In these
games you try to give seniors
a chance to do something that
they haven’t been able to do
and you have to allow juniors
to build confidence. You have
to create a balance. You want to
get your young guys in to gain
some experience.”
After a scoreless opening
quarter, Maglione put Peabody
on the board on a 2-yard carry
in the second quarter (Joe
Swanton PAT). Cuzzi added a
6-yard rush to give the Tanners
a 14-0 lead. Medford found
its way on the board with an
80-yard touchdown toss (kick
failed) before the half.
Peabody pulled away with 14
points in the third quarter. Cuzzi
found the end zone on a 41-yard
run (kick blocked), the Tanners’
defense logged a safety and
Maglione scored on a 47-yard
rush (kick blocked).
“Cam and Kyle both ran
well,” Bettencourt said. “They
both scored two touchdowns.
They carried our offense.”
The Mustangs closed the
gap to 28-18 with a pair of
touchdown tosses (conversions
failed) in the fourth quarter.
Casey sealed the win with his
2-yard touchdown run as time
expired (no PAT attempt).
Peabody will host Lynn
English Friday night (7) in a
non-tournament tilt at Coley
Lee Field. The Tanners are
hoping to come away with a
win in their final home game of
the season.
“The game’s going to be
played. Someone’s going to
win, someone’s going to lose,”
Bettencourt said. “If we can win
our last two games, we can salvage
a 5-6 record. But English
wants to keep a winning record.
There’s a lot at stake here. We
finished 3-8 my first year here.
We don’t want to match that.
We lost a couple games at the
start of the season. We don’t
want to let that dictate our
season. Finishing 5-6 has to be
our goal.”
Bettencourt expects both
teams will come ready to play.
“The combination of our seniors
wanting to finish strong
and young guys wanting to earn
jobs has to drive us to play our
best,” Bettencourt said. “We’re
playing a high-octane offense
Friday night. We’re going to
have a good week of practice to
play against that. We’re hoping
our seniors can walk off their
home field with a win in their
last home game.”